Maja Lemac

Label-free mass spectrometric profiling of urinary proteins and metabolites from paediatric idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is caused by renal diseases that increase the permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier without evidence of a specific systemic cause. The aim of the present work was to reveal inherent molecular features of INS in children using combined urinary proteomics and metabolomics profiling. In this study, label-free mass spectrometric analysis of urinary proteins and small molecule metabolites was carried out in 12 patients with INS versus 12 sex- and age-matched control subjects with normal renal function. Integration and biological interpretation of obtained results were carried out by Ingenuity IPA software. Validation of obtained proteomics data was carried out by Western blot method. Proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the data set identifier PXD000765. This study indicates for the first time that paediatric INS is associated with up-regulation of afamin, hydroxyphenylacetate and uridine, and concomitant down-regulation in glutamine and phenylalanine levels, and many of these molecular species were previously shown to be involved in oxidative stress. Further studies in larger patient population are underway to investigate the role of oxidative stress in renal injury in paediatric INS.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in children: review of 282 Croatian cases.

Recent data suggests increased incidence of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) among children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). To determine the causes and possible longitudinal changes in the etiology of INS, 282 Croatian children diagnosed with INS between 1990 and 2009 were evaluated. In total, 122 children were assessed as having minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) based on their initial presentation, laboratory findings and clinical course. Kidney biopsy was performed in the remaining 160 children. MCNS was present in 18.1% of all biopsies performed. Total incidence of MCNS (assessed + biopsy proven) was only 53.5%. In contrast, FSGS was found in 40.6% of all biopsies and accounted for 23.1% of all cases. Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MesPGN) was the third most common diagnosis, present in 26.9% of the biopsies, and accounted for 15.2% of all cases. There were no significant longitudinal differences in the incidence of different causes of INS. The overall response to steroids at presentation was 71.6%. A higher proportion of initial steroid responders among children with FSGS (43.1%) and MesPGN (67.4%) than previously reported was noted. A longitudinal tendency of increasing steroid resistance in FSGS and MesPGN groups was observed.